The End Of Days
The End Of Days
A/N: For the ‘M-rated’ part of this fic be sure to read my story Metamorphosis. It comes into the storyline after the last chapter and before the start of this. Find it here: http://rachel-noelle.livejournal.com/5938.html#cutid1
For anyone who doesn’t know: My fanfic/ffnet profile gets updated WAY more often than my stories. If there’s something you’re following , but it’s been six millennia since the last update, check there. I usually have the progress of my chapter fics and most recent one-shots listed near the top. Word of caution, though, I have expressed some opinions on things that are just that. My opinions. Nothing in my profile should be taken personally (except the personal info, lol. That is very factual, haha). If you like a ship I don’t, well, that’s your prerogative. 8-D I harbor no ill feeling for you if you ship something I don’t, I just don’t really care for your ship. Lol. (Join me in spreading the word of boats. Let HitsuMatsu be the first boat out there. Doesn’t ship always make you think along those lines? Like a cruise ship or something.) It’s fairly easy to skip over that sort of thing anyway. I have news at the top, my about me, then my opinion section, followed by my preferred ships, then my complete story info. That’s also a good place to get a brief summary of all the Life’s Questions chapters. 8-)
Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. From FanFiction.net, thank you to SoaringHellButterfly, who I believe has reviewed almost, if not all, of my chapters and stories. Just as WinterVines has done. Thank you! Also, a thanks to stormwolf527, who has constantly reviewed as well. And a most special thanks to kyokoaurora for her beta services (and her praise sweet enough to send me into a diabetic coma). Without her, this story would never have gotten better than the first couple of chapters. *cheesy grin* And a serious thank you to those of you who picked up on this in its weak days of the first chapters and hung out with me till the end. Also, kingleby and Kohryu, who’ve reviewed most of the chapters.
A thank you to my anonymous reviewers, too. I really wish you each had an account, so that I could thank you personally, but, nevertheless, I appreciate every review each of you have given just as much as anyone else’s.
If I’ve missed anyone, I’m sorry. This AN is so long now, I doubt many will read it. Lol. If I’ve ever responded to a review with something completely dumb to be saying, all I can say is ‘Oops!’ I do know the difference in location of England and New England, I’m rather decent at spelling and grammar, but I honestly never truly learned to type, so that’s why you might get a few typos in my responses. I use MSWord for my stories, so there’s not a whole lot of trouble with that there. Just that form instead of from business. .
115 reviews so far. I never expected so much, and I am delighted every time I see that number on my profile growing. To my readers but not reviewers, I totally understand (at least I think, haha). Thank you for reading! The reviews are nice, but sometimes your tastes just aren’t leaning in the right direction for anything to be striking, so, if you’re like me, you feel silly leaving a review that just says ‘Great!’ Haha. But, seriously, I thank you all just as much. 55 people on alert, and several others who just keep checking. Thank you all!!
For a sap induced coma, check out chapter 23 of the Life’s Questions fic. I am super, super proud of that, as far as sap and fluff goes. I’ve had some very nice reviews for it so far, and I hope you all could share my sentiment. It’s yet another take on HitsuMatsu romance, this time involving an engagement and a little black book. Teehee!
Please read, enjoy, and review if it moves you!
-Rachel Noelle
For the first time in her life, Matsumoto got to test her theory of which was better: with gigais or without. And the answer was a resounding ‘without.’ But it was simply more convenient to fall into bed still in their gigai, especially after a long, exhausting day at the clinic. And, good grief, but did Hitsugaya’s stamina ever run out?
Maybe it was because she was simply more inclined to be less active by nature, but she was exhausted when she finally made it to sleep. Not that she would trade that for anything, though. Hitsugaya was so kind, and unhurried, and set on her pleasure as well that she couldn’t help allowing him everything she could give him, no matter how exhausting.
At least she never minded sleeping naked.
Unfortunately for the newly discovered talents of Hitsugaya Toshiro, Yachiru returned from Seireitei that Sunday, since the summer break would be over and she was still needed in the elementary school. Matsumoto and Hitsugaya kept their petting and fawning over each other to a minimum, and tried to refrain from anything too intimate when Yachiru was in the flat with them. This led to most of Hitsugaya’s lunch breaks from the clinic not involving lunch at all.
Just as September was getting well underway, Yachiru came home from school with an announcement that she’d discovered who had the funny reiatsu. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto were thrilled, because it meant they could go home soon. The real surprise came when they discovered who the reiatsu was stemming from.
Matsumoto and Hitsugaya were standing at the edge of a practice field, watching Kurosaki Karin drill a group of little girls and boys in the art of soccer. (1) Hitsugaya wondered why on earth they hadn’t thought to look for Karin in the first place. Though it didn’t take more than another thought for him to decide they’d discovered some amazing side effects for not doing that.
Hitsugaya and Matsumoto spent a couple of days with Karin, to observe and make sure her reiatsu wasn’t interfering with anything. Followed then a couple of days training her how to keep it in check most of the time.
“Training? You mean like Ichi-nii?” Karin asked the two shinigami standing in front of her. Matsumoto nodded happily. “So, you’re going to kill me like Hat-n-Clogs did Ichi-nii?”
“Absolutely!” Matsumoto chimed quickly. Karin looked terrified. “Oh, wait. No, not like that! We’re not going to kill you!”
Hitsugaya simply hung his head. Trust his girlfriend to stick her foot in her mouth. “We do want to train you, but it doesn’t involve anything that extreme.”
Karin let out a sigh of relief, hoping they were being truthful. “Well, I suppose that’s okay, then,” Karin conceded.
That afternoon Hitsugaya began drilling Karin in the skill of keeping her reiatsu sealed. She watched intently as Hitsugaya exemplified what he was training her to do. She copied all of his moves, but the first attempt nothing happened. Karin didn’t seem too disappointed, Matsumoto having warned her already that hardly anyone got it right the first several times.
A second attempt left Karin with a feeling of having accomplished something, though she wasn’t sure what that was. Another fifteen attempts and she plopped down on the grass beside Matsumoto. “I’m never going to get this,” Karin whined.
Matsumoto giggled, understanding completely the way she felt. “It took me a whole month to learn that. I learned plenty of other things, but that was difficult. But, it took Ichigo three months to get where you are.” Matsumoto offered a few words of encouragement, hoping that Karin would take to the instruction quickly. Rukia and Ichigo’s baby girl was due to be born soon, and she doubted Karin wanted to be earthbound when Rukia went into labor.
“How long did it take you to learn, Toshiro-kun?” Karin ventured. Hitsugaya scowled at the use of his name, but shrugged in response to her question.
“Three hours. Considering I can’t teach properly to save my life, it was a surprise that he learned anything from my class that day at all.” Matsumoto smiled, pride plainly showing in her eyes.
“Three hours? It’ll take me three years at this rate,” Karin moaned.
“It gets easier after you start to know what you’re looking for, what it feels like,” Hitsugaya explained. “I’d imagine you’ll have it well enough in about two more days.”
When the time was drawing to evening, Karin stood from where she had slumped on the grass, yet again, and stretched. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto shared a small chuckle over the cracking bones, knowing exactly how it felt to be working at something so draining all day.
“Got a hot date tonight?” Matsumoto teased. Karin looked at her funnily, blushing.
“Why?” Karin snapped. Matsumoto blew off the tone as being caught red-handed and taking the defensive.
“You’re in quite a hurry to leave. I was just curious. Who is he?” Matsumoto’s eyes shone with excitement and anxiousness to sate her curiosity.
Karin mumbled out a response, but Matsumoto couldn’t pick up her words well enough to understand them. She asked Karin to repeat her answer. Karin huffed and crossed her arms, blushing deeper.
“It’s not really a date, we’re just going out for ice cream and then he’s going to show me some more about the guitar,” finally Karin mumbled out a response audible to Matsumoto.
“Sado-kun, huh? Shunsui really took a liking to him. He’s not a bad choice,” Matsumoto heartily approved of Karin’s dating choices.
“Ichi-nii wasn’t as upset as when Yuzu told him she was going out with Ishida-san,” Karin smirked. Matsumoto’s eyes went big and round, and Hitsugaya asked if she was serious. “Yeah, but she failed to mention he was making a dress for her, not taking her out on a date or something. They met for dinner and then went shopping.” Karin shrugged, not really having overmuch to say on the topic.
Hitsugaya and Matsumoto wished Karin luck and a good time with Sado, then made their way back to their own place. Two days later and Karin had mastered the training well enough to be able to continue it alone, and the following day they had everything packed and ready to head back to Seireitei.
When Matsumoto and Hitsugaya returned home, they were accompanied by Karin, Yuzu, and Isshin. The trio were eager to see their new niece and granddaughter, and were given permission (as long as it was kept out of the spotlight) to accompany the Tenth Division leaders back to Seireitei.
Matsumoto had never seen Yachiru cry like she did when they left for Seireitei. She almost felt bad for taking the girl from what had become her new home and friends. Yachiru needed some little girls around, or some little boys. Though males already seemed to put Zaraki on edge where his little girl was concerned. Though, when she saw Byakuya, Yachiru cheered up considerably. And then, for some reason Matsumoto was afraid to name, she even blushed when Hanataro told her she looked pretty. Was Yachiru bitten by some kind of bug or something?
Matsumoto elected to keep her nose out of it, until Yachiru begged to spend the night with her the day Rukia and Ichigo welcomed baby girl Kurosaki Chouko into the world.
The Fourth Division had never seen so much excitement in their halls. Not of the good kind, anyhow. Poor Isane was nearly run ragged by the time Rukia’s labor was over. Unohana had been the primary physician for the delivery, with Hanataro there to assist. Isane wanted little or no to do with it, simply because it made her hurt thinking that it could be her in Rukia’s position. She took a small amount of comfort in the belief that at least she didn’t have as much to worry with as Matsumoto.
Ichigo, at 5:42 pm on September 25, cried harder than Rukia when he held his baby girl in his arms. Shortly thereafter, with tear tracks staining his face, he presented her to the group gathered outside what had been made into the delivery room’s window. There was a chorus of cheers and whoops from the group, and Isane, though excited for Ichigo and Rukia, had a bit of a tough time getting the crowd to keep quiet, so as not to disturb the others in the infirmary.
Whilst Matsumoto was walking back to the Tenth Division office with Hitsugaya, Ukitake and Kyoraku approached with cocky, I-told-you-so grins on both their faces.
“Congratulations!” Ukitake and Kyoraku chorused together.
Hitsugaya’s look turned sour instantly, clearly stating that he wasn’t amused. “Congratulations for what?” Matsumoto asked, trying to avoid Hitsugaya’s anger. Not that they didn’t deserve some of it. “Rukia-chan deserves your congratulations, not us.”
“Ah, but this congratulations is meant for the parents to be!” Kyoraku sang loudly. Matsumoto thought Hitsugaya might faint and she might join him.
“Ah, indeed!” Ukitake agreed. “Yachiru-chan seems to think that you’re going to be welcoming a child of your own soon.”
“Well then, I think you misunderstood Yachiru-chan. Karin asked the same thing,” Matsumoto huffed, crossing her arms and pouting. She and Hitsugaya were off instantly and in the same second were being harassed by Yachiru to let her stay overnight.
Ukitake and Kyoraku watched them walk off. “Yachiru was right, though, her reiatsu did turn funny. And the zanpakuto wouldn’t lie about that. They’ve been waiting for years now for Haineko and Hyourinmaru to get together,” Kyoraku mused, smiling an ‘I know something you don’t’ grin.
“Well, it doesn’t feel like Rukia-san’s, so it must be something else. It almost seems like that, but Rangiku-san’s is barely noticeable at all. Anyone less than fukutaicho class probably couldn’t feel it.” Ukitake shrugged and chimed, “Oh well, next time, though!” before returning to the previous discussion with Kyoraku over why babies were suddenly being born in Seireitei, and if the boom would continue. Though Nanao and Soifon might not agree, both hoped so.
oOoOo
Yachiru returned to the Tenth Division office that evening around seven, with an overnight bag stuffed full of enough things to last a week. Matsumoto accompanied the girl to Hitsugaya’s quarters to make dinner and have a little time for girl talk. Hitsugaya was off gallivanting around Seireitei with Renji for whatever reason. At least Matsumoto wasn’t worried about his social life anymore.
When Matsumoto had dinner on the table, Yachiru revealed to her that Byakuya had been mean, yet again.
“How is Byakushi being mean, Yachiru-chan?” Matsumoto inquired politely, trying not to snoop but unable to keep from feeling rather defensive of Yachiru.
“I told him yesterday that Hana-chan said I looked pretty, and Byakushi said he didn’t like Hana-chan,” Yachiru pouted. Somewhere along the line she finally started referring to people with some semblance of their actual name. Usually familiarly, but, to Yachiru everyone was a friend.
“Hmm… I don’t know why he’d say that, but I think I’m going to have to have a little chat with Byakushi,” Matsumoto steeled her resolve, wondering if Hitsugaya would forgive her for getting herself demoted.
“Hana-chan said he likes my hair, cause it’s pretty and pink,” Yachiru grinned broadly, her eyes looking torn between feeling down about Byakuya or excited about Hanataro. Apparently her like for Byakuya was stronger, as she soon settled for looking sullen again.
Yachiru was a bit sullen through the meal, but perked up when Matsumoto offered to play a few small games with her before bed.
oOoOo
“Renji, I have no clue what to do about this honeymoon business,” Hitsugaya grumbled, trying not to whine too much. “If Rangiku would tell me what she wants, it would be infinitely easier to decide what to do. I don’t even know what humans do for that kind of thing.” Hitsugaya lay back in the grass of the hill he and Renji were sitting on. He put his hands behind his head, staring up at the late evening sky.
Renji laughed beside him. “I was wonderin’ why I didn’t get any work from your division today.” Hitsugaya turned a hopeful look to Renji, who just smiled in return. “Sorry, I can’t help ya. I guess I could go with you ta ask Rukia or something, though,” Renji suggested, earning an immediate grateful response from Hitsugaya.
“That may be a good idea, actually. Rangiku wants to go and see her next week, to see the new baby. Maybe I could talk to Kurosaki, too,” Hitsugaya sighed in relief, finally having somewhere to start his planning.
“I hate doing patrol in the evenings. It’s so boring, and why did they send us out to patrol the woods in Seireitei anyway?” Renji grumbled, earning a sarcastic laugh from Hitsugaya.
“I think they’re trying to see if people really can die of boredom.”
oOoOo
Hitsugaya made it back to his rooms very late that night, exhausted from a hollow fight that broke out not two minutes after his discussion with Renji. Nothing particularly terrible, just unexpected, and therefore, it easily wore them down. Sometimes he wondered if he might be the one to end up pregnant. Wasn’t exhaustion one of the first signs? Then, he silently thanked the gods that he wasn’t capable of getting that way.
Though he did worry about Matsumoto. He was still uncertain about the fatherhood business, and the very thought both intrigued and terrified him. He wasn’t really too young, but he definitely still looked it. What if their child or children were cursed with his height?
When he climbed over Yachiru and crawled into bed beside a snoozing Matsumoto he decided to save his worries for later.
oOoOo-RN-oOoOo
Matsumoto was delighted. There were words out there, sure, to describe it, but really the basic ‘delighted’ fit splendidly. For possibly the first time in her life, she was going to get to see and hold a newborn baby. Just a few days old. It was thrilling. Exhilarating. Possibly one of the best days ever.
Hitsugaya, however, seemed to not share her sentiment. Rather, he looked as terrified as an innocent man being sentenced to death. Well, that wasn’t quite the description, but she decided it would work. She assured him that things wouldn’t be as terrible as he was imagining, but he never relaxed.
Not only was he a bit scared of the prospect of such a young child, but he desperately hoped Ichigo could be of some help. Any help he could get would set things in the right direction, at least.
At the Kuchiki mansion they were greeted politely and welcomed inside. The servant showed them to Rukia’s rooms, and Matsumoto knocked excitedly on the door. A soft voice called for them to come in.
“Rukia-chan?” Matsumoto ventured.
“She’s asleep right now. Chouko wore her out these last few nights, mostly wanting fed. Wore us all out, I think,” Ichigo greeted with a smile. In his arms was baby Chouko, as close to smiling as she could get.
“Oh my gosh! She’s so beautiful!” Matsumoto squealed.
Hitsugaya worried she’d wake Rukia, and though he had no doubt she would be welcoming, it didn’t guarantee that she would be happy about it. “Ran, you’re going to wake Kuchiki- er, Kurosaki-san up,” he admonished.
“Nah, she’s in the other room, it’s okay,” Ichigo assured them.
Ichigo invited them into the room and offered them a seat on a sofa. There was the ever present set of tea things on a small coffee table nearby, which he also offered, though they would have to help themselves.
Matsumoto cooed over the baby, wanting to hold her and fawn over her. Ichigo placed Chouko in Matsumoto’s outstretched arms, telling her how to hold the baby properly and worrying over the whole situation. Matsumoto assured him she wouldn’t do anything horrible or harmful. Ichigo finally calmed down some when Matsumoto had the baby for a few minutes, lightly tickling the infant’s belly and talking to her.
Chouko giggled some and smiled as well as she knew how, obviously delighted to be the center of attention. Hitsugaya even braved a chance to talk to Chouko a bit, still too wary to hold her. Everything went smoothly until Chouko began crying.
Ichigo took her back from a startled and worried Matsumoto, smiling crookedly. “She’s just hungry. Rukia’s not going to be happy, but she refuses to let Chouko take a bottle yet,” Ichigo explained. He disappeared into an adjoining room, and reappeared a few minutes later. “Rangiku-san, she wants to see you.”
Matsumoto excitedly vacated her spot on the sofa and made her way into the next room. Hitsugaya could hear the two women chatting in low tones, and took a moment to breathe deeply. The whole ordeal was terrifying. Ichigo came and sat across from Hitsugaya in an armchair. Neither bothered with words for some time.
Finally, Ichigo’s curiosity got the better of him. “Did you ever figure anything out? Renji said you were, erm, having some trouble.” Ichigo grinned when the young taicho’s face turned red.
Hitsugaya resolved to murder Renji the next time he saw the man. He gave a dry snort before answering. “If you want to say that.”
“Have you asked her?” Ichigo raised an eyebrow in question.
“All I can get from her is ‘Surprise me!’ No matter how many times I ask,” Hitsugaya used a hand to massage his forehead, pleading with his body not to give him a headache. Another quiet moment passed. “What did you do?”
“Rukia wanted to go sight seeing in Yokohama and Kyoto, so we spent about half a week in both. They have a really amazing amusement park in Yokohama(2), but, since she was obviously pregnant it would have been a bad idea to go. But, we’ve got an anniversary soon enough,” Ichigo rambled. Hitsugaya wondered briefly how he managed to talk so much.
They shared a few cups of tea, chatting off and on about what Hitsugaya could do. Everything, in general, was going fairly smoothly until the time came for Matsumoto and Hitsugaya to leave, lest they overstay their welcome. As they say, ‘Best laid plans o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley.’ (3)
Hitsugaya and Matsumoto stepped into the foyer just as Byakuya was coming in from his office. Hitsugaya recognized the scent of trouble a moment too late.
Matsumoto smiled politely to Byakuya, refusing any further kind of greeting. He spoke a quick hello just as she and Hitsugaya were almost out the door. Hitsugaya was still retrieving his shoes when Matsumoto chose to strike.
“Kuchiki taicho, if I may?” Matsumoto asked for his permission before speaking. He conceded, not altogether unwillingly, with a nod of his head. Matsumoto steeled her nerves, her anger with the man for his mistreatment of Yachiru boosting her confidence. At least if things got too out of hand Hitsugaya wouldn’t let Byakuya kill her. Beat her up good, maybe, but not kill her.
“Apparently you’ve not been given the chance to see poor Yachiru crying, as you are the one who has been wholly unkind to her, but I must insist you refrain from such terrible words spoken to her. And your opinions of your fellow shinigami should remain to yourself.” Hitsugaya tried in vain to interject a demand that Matsumoto cease, but it was fully ignored. Byakuya looked affronted, as though he were innocent. “Perhaps you’ve spoken so ill of Hanataro-kun out of jealousy, I wouldn’t know, but Yachiru-chan is entirely too young to be subjected to that sort of meanness.” Matsumoto finished with a huff and cross of her arms.
“Hitsugaya taicho,” Byakuya began, voice cold and steely, “Please escort your fukutaicho from my home.”
“Oh, no you don’t Mister!” Matsumoto practically yelled. Hitsugaya tugged forcefully at her hand, trying not to cause further problems for anyone. Matsumoto would have none of that, though. In a quick second she was standing in front of Byakuya, glaring daggers at the man. Hitsugaya almost smirked. Byakuya actually looked scared of her. Well, anyone with a head on their shoulders should be smart enough to be healthfully fearful of an angry Matsumoto.
Byakuya’s head was forced to turn to the side, and what seemed an eternity later the sound from the slap caught up with the actions. Hitsugaya blanched. This could not end well. “If I hear of you mistreating Yachiru-chan like that again I will have the entirety of the Shinigami Women’s Association on your case,” Matsumoto threatened.
She then stalked out of the house, pulling Hitsugaya along, fury still boiling in her veins. Hitsugaya knew better than to object, and tried to maintain a fairly equal pace, to avoid his arm being pulled out of socket.
Hitsugaya slept on the sofa that night, just to ensure he occurred as little of Matsumoto’s wrath as possible.
oOoOo
When Matsumoto finally walked into their office the next morning Hitsugaya was still a bit worried. She looked tense, and he was concerned something worse than any reprimand he could give her might have happened.
“I’m sorry, Taicho,” Matsumoto started. Hitsugaya blinked in surprise. She rarely apologized for anything, unless it was serious, and she only called him Taicho when she was angry or in a meeting anymore. “I’ve written a letter to Kuchiki taicho, to formally apologize for my behavior yesterday. Thank you for not saying anything last night.” She turned on her heel before Hitsugaya had time to fully process what she had said. She paused in the doorway and looked back to him. “Why are you working on Saturday, anyway?”
Hitsugaya’s ears turned pink. “Erm, I don’t really know, I guess. But, Rangiku, you don’t have to do anything about yesterday. Unless Kuchiki taicho says something.” Which he doubted Byakuya would. Byakuya was definitely smarter than that. Along with the SWA would probably come all of Matsumoto’s gang, including Renji and Ikkaku, both taicho class, as well as Zaraki. Yes, it was certainly in the best interest of Byakuya’s health to keep his peace.
“I’m really sorry, though, and I don’t want to get you into any trouble, Taicho,” Matsumoto’s eyes were downcast. “It’s just that, well, I was PMSing anyway, and then he went and acted like he did, and I just couldn’t stop myself. Yachiru is kind of like, I dunno, a sister or a niece to me, and it really just… pisses me off when someone does something like that.”
Did he dare to ask if she was feeling okay now? Or would that just make her angry again? Hitsugaya instead settled for simply offering to grab a bite for lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon at home with her.
Over lunch Matsumoto chattered on about everything she had done with Rukia the day before. Rukia complained that her boobs were chaffed and raw from breastfeeding, but Unohana recommended it for as long as possible, just because it was the healthiest for the baby. Considering the normal rate of actual births in Soul Society, no one had bothered to actually come up with a formula. Matsumoto helped Rukia change a diaper, which she admittedly wasn’t very fond of, but accepted as a necessary evil to raise children.
“Rukia and Ichigo are so excited. Baby Chouko has just the tiniest hint of reiatsu already. I don’t know how she could not, considering Ichigo. He’s got enough for half of Soul Society,” Matsumoto spoke. Hitsugaya listened with half an ear to her conversation.
“You know that we have to go and visit Ishida-kun this weekend, right? It’s time for our final fittings.” Hitsugaya finally paid full attention to Matsumoto, looking a little unhappy about her declaration.
“I’ll go talk to Ukitake later. What’s the date?”
“October 11.”
oOoOo
A kiss here, a touch there, and that funny little thing he tried with his tongue right behind her ear. Oh, how she loved it. But, alas, tonight was not the night. It guaranteed to be a sight to see Hitsugaya moping. And she hated it, really, but, sometimes you just didn’t do certain things.
And, for the most part, women just didn’t have sex on their periods. Not that she wanted it any less than he did, but that was a bit on the side of gross. More so for him, but still… it was equally embarrassing an idea for her.
“Toshiro,” Matsumoto half-whined. She placed her hand firmly atop his as it strayed further and further downward. He looked up to her, worried he’d gone and mucked something up. “We can’t. Not tonight. Give it six more days.”
Hitsugaya just looked confused. Why tonight, of all nights so far? He just knew he’d done something. Maybe he said the wrong thing today in the office? Matsumoto looked to him and smiled softly.
“You know I said earlier that I was PMSing yesterday? Well, that only seriously lasts for about two days.” She smiled again, trying to avoid putting it into detailed words. That always made him uncomfortable. “It wasn’t something you’ve done, it’s just part of nature,” she reassured his uncertain gaze.
“Oh. Well…” What was he supposed to do now? This was the first time he’d been turned down, and he frankly didn’t know what to do with the situation.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know when it’s over.” Matsumoto grinned devilishly and proceeded to show him just what they could do in the meantime.
Notes:
(1): Some of you call it football, and since the setting in this story is in Japan, I thought I might call it that. But, I went with soccer. Football is the sport that took the Sooners to the Orange Bowl. Sadly, they were creamed by Florida. I guess few seasons will compare to the… 2000 season, if I recall correctly (I’m old compared to some of you guys but seriously, I’m not that old. That’s the earliest good season I can remember). Sooner born, Sooner bred, when I die, I’ll be Sooner dead. ;-) Okay, enough deviation, though I’m sure some of you out there loved my little song. Lol.
(2): I have NO idea if there is actually any sort of amusement park in Yokohama. And if there is, I couldn’t tell you anything about it. But, for all intents and purposes of this story, there is. 8-)
(3): That is the original. Many of you are probably more familiar with “Often go awry (or amiss).” I like “gang aft a-gley” better. 8-) - (by Robert Burns)
I’m sure a lot of people would be addressed differently, but you can only distinguish between people with the same surname in so many ways. So, though it’s unlikely they would simply be referred to as, for example, Yuzu and Karin, it’s less confusing for you readers, and me! 8-) If you’ve noticed the others, too, it’s for the same reason. Especially after I had Rukia and Ichigo married. Kurosaki just isn’t going to work for five different people.